


Lost Time

by LolaLee



Series: Love and Tenderness [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amnesia, F/F, Hospitals, Korra POV, Korra/Asami Sato-centric, Married Korra/Asami Sato, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-03-10 01:56:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13494384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LolaLee/pseuds/LolaLee
Summary: An accident takes from Korra the last seven years of her life. She even looses most of her memories of the person most important to her. Is this something she and Asami can cope with or will it ruin their relationship?Comments always appreciated (they also remind me to keep writing.)





	1. Chapter 1

I didn't make the time I wanted to in training this morning. The remedy to which is more training. I'm not looking forward to explaining that to Mr. Tenzin, being how stern he was about me "not overdoing it". I whipe some of the excess sweat from my brow, rembering the more imediate problem of World History. As if Mrs. What's-her-face doesn't hate me enough already, I had to forget to do the homework for this block. 

I catch sight of the girl sitting in the row ahead of me. She transfered to Rep. High a few days ago. Her name's Aiko or Aki or something like that. A lot of people were talking about her in the halls. I can see why. Her body is very nice to look at; shiny raven hair, slender waist, shaply breasts. Her voice is really pleasant too. I didn't have time to shower, I shutter to think how must appear to her, assuming she's even noticed me (girls like her have a tendency not to.) 

I turn to Opal, currently seated beside me. "Hey, whose the new girl?"

Opal opens her mouth to answer but no sound comes out. The rest of the noises of the room fade away too. The room is covered in a cloud of darkness. The next thing that I notice is a dull pain spread throughout my body. I try to move my different extremities. I succeed with some effort to wiggle my fingers and toes. Finally my eyes come open, allowing them to take in the blinding light from what I can only assume is a hospital room. Opal is sitting a near-bye chair, reading something dogeared. 

My efforts to say her name come out hoarse, only audible enough to get her attention. "Korra!" She says, sounding happier than ever to say my name. "Don't go back to sleep!" Opal lunges at the nurse summoning botton by my bed. "Doctor! We need a doctor!" She shouts excitedly. "Korra," she takes a hold of my hand. I wince at the contact. "Sorry, sorry." She drops the hand just as quickly. 

"It's all good," I reply hoarsely. It is all good. Seeing her beats the hell out of the inevitable lecture from Senna, Tonarq and Tenzin. It would help if I knew what I'd done to get here. God, I hope nobody else got hurt. 

A young doctor enters the room briskly. He shines a light in my eyes and asks me a few questions. Thinking is difficult but the questions aren't calculus. Opal excuses herself to get someone whose name I don't catch. He glances down at his clipboard after I tell him my name. Then he asks me the question again. I repeat myself, wondering if this is some sort of test. Maybe low patience is a sign of brain damage. I think I read that somewhere. He asks me asks me to remember certain things and then asks me them again a few minutes later. When he reaches the end of his questions, he excuses himself from the room, mumbling some jargon and asking me to remember the number. 

Opal comes running in with that new girl, whose name I can't remember. The light in the room is making them look rounder and older than they are. Especially what's-her-face who in some weitd twist of fate is looking even better in a baggy sweater and no make-up. "Korra. Thank god." She kneels beside the hospital bed taking my hand. I try to keep from wincing. She still notices and drops the hand. "Sorry," she says sounding devasted at having caused me the slight pain. 

"It's okay," I respond hoarsely. Maybe she was involved in the accident. 

The doctor from before and an older man, possibly his supiror walk into the room, both worried at the sight of Opal and other girl. "Mrs. Sato," The older man says clearly not having expected either of them, "I know you really want to be with her right now but you need to step outside the room so that doctor Wei can explain the situation to you." It's a strange sight seeing her get flustered. Opal is none to happy about it either. "Please," he cajoles, "you can see her all you want afterwards but there's something you really need to know first."

Her shoulders slump. "Alright," she says with a resigned dignity. She kisses me on the forehead. "We'll be right outside, sweetie." I savour the feeling, neverminding that it's a touch too familar. Maybe they do things differently where she's from. 

"We'll be right outside," Opal echoes. 

The older doctor waits till the two girls and his apologetic looking collegue have left the room before turning back to me. He smiles paternally. A sense of dread builds in my stomach. 

"Do you know who that was?" He asks conversationally. 

"That was my friend, Opal," I answer. He nods. 

"And the other woman?"

I scour my brain for her name but come up empty. "She goes to my school. She just transferred a little while ago" He nods again, this time more thoughtfully.

"Do you know how old you are?"

"Seventeen."These questions are starting to get on my nerves. 

"Do you know why you're here?"

"I think there was some kinda accident-look, can you please tell me what's going on."

He nods again, a habit which is starting to get annoying. "You were involved in an accident and we're going to have to run a few more tests but it looks light the trauma to your brain has caused a form of retrograde amnesia and we can't rule out other forms of amnesia, although Doctor Wei didn't catch any problems with your short-term memory."

I will the doctor to turn into a frog. Nothing happens. I've never had a dream like this. Everyhing feels so real. I need to remember to stop watching those stupid shows with Opal. I weakly pinch myself. All I get is a slight pain in my arm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment. Hintiti hint hint


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As many of you probably realised from the first chapter this fick is focusing on Korra and Asami's relationship after Korra looses all recollection of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to be quicker about updating this work than I was about updating the last one. This is a little tricky to write because of how complicated amnesia is. I did my best to be as accurate as possible but naturally since I don't have a medical degree some mistakes (or a lot of mistakes) are pretty likely. I hope everyone can enjoy this chapter and comment to their hearts content.

I page through one of the books Opal lent me. The writing is the tinniest bit boring, so I've mainly been looking at the pictures. I'm not sure how many times I've seen the different pictures, as I keep forgetting about it. Doctor Chan told me the short-term memory loss was normal and expected to go away but never tells me when I'm getting my older memories back. 

The images in the book are so familiar that I suspect I've been to a few of these places. Or at least I hope that I have. 

The light from outside is just starting to fade when the door to the hospital room is gently slid open. "Hi, Asami," I greet, resting weakly resting Opal's book on a nearby side table, glad that I'm able to remember her name. The other woman enters the room looking like she just got off work. 

It surprised me when Opal mentioned Asami was an engineer. I've always pictured engineers as pedantic men in their thirties and fourties, nothing like the graceful bomb shell making her way towards me. A lot of times, when I'm with her, I get these invasive urges to rip open her tasteful blouse and smear her well applied make-up with a passionate kiss. It would be better if at night my hands were strong enough to give me some release. 

"Hi, sweetie." I get a little rush at the term of endearment, even though it pobably slipped out without her meaning for it to. Asami sits herself down on the chair beside the bed "What are you reading?" She asks glancing down at the side table. 

"It's just something Opal lent me. Mainly I've been looking at the pictures."

Asami smiles at my comment. Maybe she finds my distain for reading endearing. It could be something older Korra did. Her smile only lasts a second until her expression morphs into a more serious one. "Korra, I'd like you to tell you that I'm sorry about what happened last time. I shouldn't have lost it like that. My hormones have been all over the place and I just wasn't thinking properly."

During her apology, I scour my memory for a recollection of what incident she might be talking about. The closest I get, is a memory of her leaving the hospital room after something happened that upset me. Then I was even more upset when I couldn't remember what had happened 

What I do know is that Asami isn't the type to "lose it" for no reason. Or at least she doesn't seem that way. It could have been that we had a squabble or something. Does that mean I should appologize? Shit! She's looking at me like she exspects a response. Alright, Avatar, lean on what you know. "It's okay." I rest my hand on her forearm in an effort to be reasuring. "It's not great but I know that it's a tough situation."

For a moment she seems about to cry. I want to reach out to console her physically but the action seems like it would be inappropriate. In the end, I just stay frozen in my spot on the hospital bed, never having felt so weak. 

"Yeah." Asami replies, trying very hard to keep the unhappiness from her voice "I'm sorry, like I said, I've been all over the place lately."

Asami only stays for a little while after that. We both ask each other about our day and neither has much to tell the other. She kisses my cheek on her way out. I lament not having reached out to comfort her. There's a special pain I feel whenever I see or think of Asami being sad. I wish she didn't have to deal with this situation. I wish I could give her, her wife back. I page through Opal's book for ten or fifteen minutes before falling into a dreamless sleep carrying with me the feeling of her lips against my cheek.

The days spent in the hospital are all spent more or less the same; food is wheeled into my room three times a day, visitors come in the afternoon or the evening and doctor Wei drops in sporadically to do variants on the same tests. When the other symptoms of brain damage, like dizziness and short-term memory loss, have gone away, he tells me there's not much else the hospital can do for me. 

No one is particularly happy about this. They still bring me pictures and tell me stories to try and jog my memory. Bolin's stories are always the most different from everyone else's. It's strange hearing about my life from other people. The pictures are stranger. Untill seeing them, never once did I ever imagine myself in a policewoman's uniform, although I have to admit, I looked pretty good in one. 

There's a brief moment each morning right after I've woken up, when I think I'm still living at home. I wine to myself about another day of school. Then I take in my surroundings. I remember I'm not captain of any teams and no has called me "master of the elements" for almost as long as Mrs. What's-her-face has been dead for. In that moment I feel something I can only describe as grief. I tell myself that I have a new life now, but I this hardly consoles me. Sometimes I manage to go back to sleep, only to wake up to the same realisations a little while later. After milking all the sleep I can, I rise and start my day. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer to post than I expected. I had trouble developing the story beyond a certain point. Hope you enjoy.

Even emptying the contents of her stomach into a porcelain bowl, Asami Sato has a certain allure to her. Cautiously, I hold a few long silky locks away from her mouth and rub what I hope are soothing circles into her back as each retch jolts painfully through her body giving way to truly awful sounds and smells. Finally, when her stomach is empty and the dry convulsions have ended, she leans back to sit between my legs. Uncertainly, I wrap my arms around her surprisingly firm waist, letting her sink into me. I deftly push the toilet lever with my foot, eradicating 80% of the acid smell. 

"Thanks, sweetie," she says gratefully. "I'm sorry about leaving you alone today. I wish I could afford to take more time off right now."

"You gotta do what you gotta do right."

Our parting is brief. A quick peck on the cheek and she's out the door. 

Alone, I explore the different facets of the house. It's bigger than I expected it to be but not quite big enough to get lost in. Over time I gravitate towards the television. It's thin and wide without visible buttons. Dr. Chan told me I should have retained most of my procedural memory, meaning I should naturally be able to navigate the device, this is assuming I ever bothered learning to operate it. Unlike the appliances at Senna and Tonraq's which I avoided like the plague. 

Part of me even misses the simplicity of my stay in the hospital, even though the most Dr. Chan did for getting me back my long-term memories was advise people to treat me with kid gloves. 

I spend Wan only knows how much time investigating the blank television before the phone rings. Hope rises in my chest at the thought of Asami calling, which quickly dissipates when it isn't her voice on the other end. 

"Oh, hey, Opal." I do my best to keep the disappointment from my voice. Knowing I should be thankful for something other than the house's solitary silence. 

"Who were you expecting?" She asks perceptively. How easy it is to forget she's known me a lot longer than the three years I remember knowing her. 

"Asami," I confess. There really isn't any point in denying it. " She's at work."

"She's at work!" Opal repeats incredulously then mutters something I don't hear over the phone. 

"It's fine. I told her it was okay," I defend, "It's not like I need her to babysit me. I'm seventeen not four." _I'm not seventeen. I need to stop saying that I am._

" That's not what I meant, Korra." Opal sighs. I know that's not what she was meant either but I won't admit it, lest we should discuss what she was actually thinking. "Listen," her tone softens, "I was thinking of coming over, maybe visiting with Ling?"

"You don't have to come over," I state neutrally, knowing that once she's decided to come, such words will do nothing to sway her. In truth, I'd still want her here even if she were coming out of pity. 

"No, I was thinking of coming over anyway. I don't feel like I've seen you enough since after you woke up."

It's true. I suspect this was an effort on her part to give me alone time with Asami, Senna and Tonraq. "You can come over if you want. We can be, like, gal pals."

"Great."

It's a long twenty minutes before she arrives at the house. 

After a brief hug in the doorway we both get comfortable in the living room. Opal positions her eight-month-old in her lap. "So," she says after a long while. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good." I look down at the loose jeans thread, I've been fiddling with. "I mean it's a big adjustment, ya know." Opal steadies my arm. The gesture feels familiar, even if her hand seems a bit different. Moments like these lead to me developing a bit of a crush on Opal freshman year. "How're things with Bolin?" I ask conversationally. 

"They're fine." She moves her hand back to her daughter. 

"Just fine?" I raise an eyebrow. 

She lets out a long breathy sigh, seeming ten years older by the end of the exhale. "It's just," she pauses to carefully consider her words, "when we first started going out, he was so excited about making movers. He was excited about everything. Just being on set made him grin. Now all he seems to do is talk about how "this wasn't right on set" or "so-and-so was being too much of a diva". And it makes sense he'd be a bit tired of everything. All the success has given him so many opportunities and I like that we have a bit of extra money lying around but it never feels like we do anything together anymore. When he is free, he wants to do something excessive with the kids. I think he feels a bit guilty he doesn't have more time to spend more time with them. I wanna have fun too but I'm with them everyday. If we did that sort of stuff all the time they'd get warn out. Ling's just a baby. "

As if on cue, the baby in her lap starts to whimper. Opal holds her to her chest. "Shh. It's okay, Sweetheart." She rubs long soothing circles into her daughter's back until she returns to her prior blaze attitude. 

"I'm sorry It isn't any easier." I wrap an arm around Opal's waist, a gesture I hope is a friendly embrace. She leans into me, resting her head on my shoulder. 

"It's not as bad as I'm making out to be." 

There's a pleasant domesticity, sitting with Opal like this. Something I could quickly get used to. 

"And You? Tell me how you're doing." 

It's my turn to sigh. "There's a lot to take in." 

"I can't imagine," she replies sympathetically. 

"None of this feels like me. I feel like I'm some kind of weird guest in someone else's life and everyone else is waiting for that other person to come back." 

"You know, Asami fell in love with you in high school," Opal reminds me. 

"Yeah, but she's not in high school anymore."

Opal opens her mouth to say something else, when the front door opens. The tapping of heels gets closer and closer to me untill slender arms wrap possessively around my shoulders. I tense at the contact. We all exchange greetings. Asami smiles warmly at the eight month old on my knee. 

Opal only stays for a little while after the exchange. Asami says she and Ling are welcome to stay for dinner. Opal politely declines. On her way out she gives me a lingering hug, telling me I'm welcome "to talk any time". The statement carries an uncomfortable weight with it. Once Opal has left, Asami deflates into the couch. 

Asami looks sea sick; her skin slightly pale, her mouth open a little, a slender hand running along her abdomen. "Still feeling pukey?" I ask sympathetically. 

"Yes," she answers serenely. 

"You know, I give a pretty mean back rub if your up for it." I laugh awkwardly. 

"That'd be very nice, thank you." She smiles at me. 

I get behind her on the couch. My hands fumble, uncertainly. I've done this for a few other girls. At the front of my mind was always something more intimate. I was never this nervous. There was always the option of going after someone else if it didn't work out. Pressing circles into Asami's tense muscles, I can't imagine wanting anyone else. The feeling is terrifying. 

I feel a jolt of electricity when Asami lets out a breathy moan. Her back is very tense. I wonder whether it's always like that or whether this is the stress of the last few months. Getting the knots out is harder than I expected. After I'm done, she goes limp against my front. I know she liked it but still want to get the extra little bit of praise. "That was good?"

"That was the best, baby." She sighs contenly. "I feel so much better." Asami pulls my arms around her waist, allowing me to intermittently stroke her sides. Her midsection is firmer than I imagined it would be. She must have just eaten. No, the swelling is to big to be post-meal bloating. Something clicks in my head. I stop running my hands along her sides. "What's wrong, baby?"

"You're pregnant." I mean to ask a series of questions building up to the conclusion, instead the words fall from my mouth emotionlessly. I move away from behind her. "Whose is it?" I ask after a long moment of wondering How she could do this? _Perfect fucking Asami Sato. I'm starting to remember things people were saying about her; her ritch her fucking father was, how every teacher lit up whenever she opened her goody-two-shoes mouth._

Asami turns around to face me. " Korra," she speaks like I had just said something outrageous, "there's no one else. You and I wanted to have a family. We got it from a donor. Ask Opal if you don't believe me."

It stings that Opal knew and didn't mention it. "If I wanned this too, why didn't you want to tell me?" I can't even look at her as I'm asking this. 

"I did want to," she pleads, "Of course I wanted to share this with you." She takes my hand. The contact only lasts for a second before I flinch away as if having been burned. "What was I suposed to do?" She sounds frustrated. 

"Tell me. It's three fucking words. Three fucking words can't be that hard for Asami Sato," I goad. 

"Yes, it is hard when I have no idea how you are going to react, when you weren't even that mature before the accident," she spits back. 

"Sorry, the accident inconvenienced you. It must really suck being chained to a fucking high schooler"

"Now that you mention it, I would rather not be married to a seventeen-year-old," she spits back with the kind of uncontrolled malice a person hardly ever hears from someone like Asami Sato. My mouth goes slack, unable to formulate a retort. How can I, when _I've been so fucking stupid._

Asami softens. I'm sure she's the type that prefers less conflict " Korra, I didn't-" I've left the room before I can hear the end of that sentence. My shoes are already half on by the time she's gotten near me again. "What are you doing?" She asks, genuinely curious. 

"You don't want me here," I state firmly, "so, I'm leaving" the hurt leaks from my voice.

"Korra, I didn't mean it like that."

Right as I'm reaching for the doorknob, my arm is caught in Asam's iron grip. Were it anyone else, I'd shove them away. I know better than to do that to Asami in her condition. "Asami, let go"

"Korra please, I meant I didn't want to be married to someone who was going to be acting immaturely. That's all I meant."

"Asami. Let go"

I shouldn't have said that. Please, Korra. Please stay," Asami pleads. I catch sight of her face. As much physical distance as I can put between us, they'll be no getting away from her painfully red nose and smeared eyes. 

Bitter tears slide down my cheeks. _A little while ago I was Rep. City High's star athlete. Now, who the hell am I?_ I take a steadying breath. _I'm Korra. My last name may have changed but my first name hasn't._ I whipe a few tears from my cheeks.

"Fine" I say dejectedly, "I'm tired. You are probably, too. It's been a long day. Let's go to bed and deal with this in the morning" 

I'm not tired. It is true, however that I would rather not be dealing with this right now. For the rest of the night, I make an effort not to look at Asami. She stays mostly quiet, worried I'm a flight risk. This silence gives me time to digest some of what she told me. 

_A baby._ The thought doesn't bother me as much as I would have expected it to. The part of me that isn't scarred of the responsibility is glad that it could be Asami Sato's baby. _She's smart, beautiful and kind,_ although I'm far from thrilled about her withholding this information from me. 

The more I think, the better I feel. I'm barely even angry anymore when Asami speaks to me from her side of the bed. 

"Korra." Her warm breath, brushes the back of neck, a feeling which is both sensual and terrifying. "I'm sorry. I should have told you about the baby, about everything. I was just so worried" 

"About what?" The question slips from my mouth before I have time to tell myself I don't want to get into it. 

"That it would be too much for you and you wouldn't want us." 

I turn around, needing for her to see my face as I'm speaking. "I do want you and the more I get used to the idea of there being a baby, the more I want to be part of their life too." 

"It's a lot of responsibilty" 

"So, I have a few months to get more responsible" 

Asami laughs "that's right," Asami's hand slides to her bump, "a few more months." 

"Do you feel anything yet?" 

"No," She says softly, "Well, sometimes I feel something. It's not like kicking. it's like a fluttering but there's nothing right now. I just like touching it." 

"Can I touch?"

"Of course." She lifts up her pyjama top, giving me access to her milky midriff. The firm flesh is warm and inviting. "It might sound strange and selfish but I was glad about being pregnant when you had your accident." She rests her hand over mine. "Whenever I got really scarred or lonely there was always my baby there with me." 

"We still have time to figure the rest of this stuff out," I say, further acquainting myself with the bump. 

"Yes. We do"


End file.
